Spurs flex on the Thunder in Game 1

The NBA playoffs are here. The games are tighter, the lights are brighter, and the narratives are getting thick. It can be a lot to keep up with but don’t worry we’re here to help. Throughout the NBA postseason, FanSided will be gathering together some of the most talented writers from our network for a daily recap of our favorite stories from the night before.

Welcome to the Rotation.

Thunder quietly begins to fade

David Ramil | @dramil13 | Hardwood Paroxysm

It’s hard to gauge exactly which team was most responsible for Saturday night’s obliterating Game 1 performance in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Spurs have managed to fly under the radar despite being historically great all season long and they somehow seem to be getting better. And while their excellence is likely the biggest factor in this weekend’s blowout victory, they’d likely prefer to work in relative anonymity.

So the focus should shift, then, onto the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that has flirted with inconsistency for too long and is on the verge of imminent collapse.

The rationale is that a loss, even by 32 points, is still just one game. In fact, you’ll find that viewpoint argued in the next section, by Gerald Bourguet. The Thunder have the talent, experience and depth to challenge the Spurs. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are more than capable of leading the way, and complementary players like Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson can contribute enough to make a difference. Head coach Billy Donovan, in his first year in the NBA, is smart enough to make the necessary adjustments.

But this line of thinking seems empty and disingenuous in light of Saturday’s blowout. The talent is there but it’s distributed lopsidedly in favor of Durant and Westbrook; the rest of the flawed roster of one-dimensional specialists can’t be counted on to make a significant difference. The pressure then falls on that dynamic duo to play to perfection for Oklahoma City to have a chance to win even one game. And while Donovan may someday grow to be an excellent coach in the league, for now he’s struggled to make this team cohesive and consistent, and it certainly doesn’t help to have to match wits against one of the finest coaches in NBA history.

The reality then becomes that Oklahoma City is clearly overmatched. The Spurs are too good and too steady to be beaten by a team that looks incredible one game and dysfunctional the next. Beyond that, this is a Thunder team that seems to be tired with itself, joylessly going through the motions knowing that a championship goal is unachievable. This season has been in many ways a successful one. They’ve remained healthy, won 55 games and vanquished a familiar foe (Dallas) in the first round of the playoffs. And yet the constant scrutiny of Durant’s free agency, of Westbrook’s explosive personality and of the two having to do it all must be exhausting; this team is spread thin, like butter over too much bread.

That it manifested during Game 1 isn’t a surprise, after all the Spurs have experience shutting the coffin for another franchise. In the depressing pallette of the Thunder loss, there were shades of San Antonio’s clinical disembowelment of Miami in the 2014 NBA Finals. That year’s version of the Heat faced so many issues that were masked by their regular-season success. Of the constant drama of being on a team led by a superstar like LeBron James. Of ongoing injury issues for Dwyane Wade. Of trading away or cutting complementary players that added to a fragile team dynamic. And, perhaps most of all, knowing that each season only a championship and nothing less would validate the team’s formation.

For all the half-jokes of the Spurs’ dull and consistent approach, that last issue has never been a problem. There are years when the team wins a title and there are years when they don’t but there is a satisfaction that they take in being in perpetual contention that never fractures the team’s cohesive identity.

The Thunder’s season is breathing its last and there’s a good chance that this team, as currently formed, will undergo massive change in order to find a way to stay competitive in seasons to come. This team’s candle of expectation has burned brightly and will soon fade away, ironically snuffed out by a team that refused to do the same.

Wait…the Thunder aren’t out of the playoffs yet?

Gerald Bourguet | @Gerald Bourguet | HoopsHabit

On the first play of the San Antonio Spurs’ Game 1 slaughter of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kawhi Leonard easily blew by Kevin Durant and threw down a vicious one-handed dunk, igniting a raucous home crowd whose decibel level was only temporarily silenced after watching their MVP land awkwardly on his hip.

Leonard quickly shook it off and the Spurs went on to rout Oklahoma City by 32 points. The play was symbolic of the game for more than one reason. It was thoroughly dominant, but it also provided a reminder that it only takes one play to change to outcome of a seven-game series.

If Game 1 was any indication, the Thunder are in for a rough time. They’re facing a 67-win juggernaut that led the league in defensive efficiency, has the bonafide second-best MVP candidate and, in a normal universe where the Golden State Warriors didn’t exist, would be runaway favorites for the 2016 crown.

In the series opener Saturday night, LaMarcus Aldridge (38 points) scored the most points in NBA playoff history in under 30 minutes, the Spurs had more points in the first quarter (43) than the Thunder did at halftime (40), and Leonard became the first player in NBA playoff history to post at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in fewer than 25 minutes.

That kind of unbridled domination basically reminded us of what we already knew: the Thunder have to play exceptional basketball to make this series competitive. But as easy as it’d be to abandon early predictions of seven games and give in to the increasingly popular “Spurs in 4” idea, it’s worth remembering that one performance — exceptional as it was — does not mean this series is over.

What the Spurs did in Game 1 set the tone moving forward. Serge Ibaka was absolutely ethered by Aldridge all night, Leonard bottled up Russell Westbrook (14 points on 5-of-19 shooting) and the Thunder’s defense was a step slow all night. There are clearly areas for improvement.

That being said, the series tally still reads “1-0.” Not “2-0,” not “3-0” and not “4-0.” It’s entirely possible that’s where we’re heading, especially if Leonard can keep Westbrook’s lightning contained in a bottle. But, oddly enough, the Thunder can also draw some solace from knowing what San Antonio’s best looks like, especially in an environment where they’re 43-1 this season.

Aldridge isn’t going to shoot 18-of-23 from the field again, throwing in random flip shots falling down through the lane like some sort of trick shot artist who makes his living hustling strangers on the street. Westbrook isn’t going to miss that many layups again, Durant is fully capable of better nights than his 16-point, 6-for-15 shooting night, and the Spurs *probably* won’t shoot 61 percent from the field again.

The onus is on OKC’s defense to make some of those things happen, but Kawhi’s monstrous dunk to start the game called to mind how unpredictable the playoffs can be, even for the most predictable major sports league.

One play, one injury, one game can change an entire series. Nick Anderson’s four missed free throws in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals; Reggie Miller’s famous eight points in nine seconds game; Derrick Rose’s ACL tear in the very first game of the 2011 NBA Playoffs — professional basketball history is littered with random occurrences that altered the outcomes of series, postseasons and championships alike.

OKC cannot rely on the possibility of someone going down with an injury, nor should their fan base be hoping for that kind of game-changer. The Thunder need to provide their own series-altering moment sooner rather than later, preferably in Game 2 when they come out for revenge.

But before we go declaring the series to be over, let’s not forget the Thunder faced a 2-0 deficit in the 2012 Western Conference Finals against San Antonio before rallying to win four straight games. This is a different Spurs beast, but any Thunder team with KD and Westbrook has a chance to win on any given night.

LaMarcus have it All-dridge

Kevin Yeung | @KevinHFY | Hardwood Paroxysm

There wasn’t a thing that the Oklahoma City Thunder did to take LaMarcus Aldridge out of rhythm in Saturday’s Game 1. And look, against the San Antonio Spurs, you have your work cut out for you. Kawhi Leonard has become a full-fledged shot-making machine, and Tony Parker will still put you on your butt if you show him a single sliver of space. Serge Ibaka had his hands full.

But Aldridge is the perfect fulcrum for the Spurs’ perfect machine. The ways he can score are many, and rife with moves and counter-moves. All of them were percolating in a meticulous dissection of the Thunder defense. The pick-and-pop jumper was there nine times out of ten, and if the closeout came, then Aldridge would pump fake and take his man off the bounce. The post-ups were there, in the engineered rhythm of the Spurs’ low-block sets, and once in awhile when the Thunder were lulled by repetition — bam! — the play would suddenly reverse into a screen to get Aldridge open for a midrange shot on the other side of the floor.

Aldridge finished with 38 points on 23 shots and one free throw attempt. If anyone had forgotten about his complete mastery of midrange-and-in scoring — if he’d been lost in Kawhi’s shadow, or mentally absorbed into the highfalutin “Spurs system” — let this be your reminder. This is surely what the Spurs pictured when they signed him, even if it meant a slight rejiggering of their team identity: LaMarcus Aldridge is damn good.

The Thunder have to do something to take the easy looks off the table. Even if there are no complete solutions, there are adjustments that might yield favorable results over a game’s worth of possessions — ways to force him out of rhythm, make him take shots the Spurs don’t necessarily want to take. The Spurs fancy themselves as a post-up team now and they’ll win many of those battles down low, but for them, the threat of the mismatch is a greater weapon than the mismatch itself, especially given everything else they’re packing.

The Thunder can dare Aldridge to win the war if they go small, switch more screens and take extra digs at the post with perimeter defenders. If Aldridge is posting up a small every play, the Spurs’ offense might slow to a pace that the Thunder — less tight defensively than in years past — can better keep up with, instead of the usual pass-and-cut carnival. There’s no taking everything away, but narrowing the scope of their options makes the Spurs feel a little less Spursy.

Will Billy Donovan tinker as needed? Nothing we’ve seen yet indicates he’s as proactive or as creative on that front as he needs to be, and his roster is already short on dimensionality as is. Aldridge has too many tricks in the bag for any simple solution. Also, even if Donovan makes a successful play in the chess match, you know Gregg Popovich will come right back with something else (Pop always has something else). Can Donovan keep up?

The good news is that, provided Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can shoot better than 40 percent at some point, Donovan will only have to be so creative to get even.

Draymond Fills Up the Stat Sheet

On Sunday afternoon against the Portland Trail Blazers, Draymond Green tallied his second career playoff triple-double (16th overall). During their victory in Game 1, the Golden State Warriors’ forward notched 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in 37 minutes.

Draymond Green scored a triple-double in Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers

Draymond has been something of a triple-double machine this year, accomplishing the feat 13 times during the regular season. League-wide, Draymond’s baker’s dozen was second only to Russell Westbrook’s 18 triple-doubles. Of course, nearly all of those triple-doubles came with Draymond playing alongside Stephen Curry (12 of 13 times) and on some level it’s difficult to separate Green’s success from Curry’s brilliance. In particular, it’s easy to dismiss Draymond’s surge in assists this season (3.7 to 7.4 apg) as a mere byproduct of the increased attention Curry has received from opposing defenses. Indeed, Draymond frequently finds himself attacking in 4-on-3 advantages, as most opponents have chosen to defend the Curry-Green high pick-and-roll by double-teaming Curry. This version of the Warriors’ half-court offense gives Draymond an opportunity to rack up lots of assists with simple lobs to Andrew Bogut and easy kick-outs for open corner threes.

On Sunday afternoon, though, Draymond continued to bolster his credentials without Curry. He’s showing that his playmaking abilities aren’t solely derived from the beneficial situations that Curry creates for him. More importantly, Draymond is demonstrating that he might be able to provide enough offensive firepower to hold down the Warriors’ fort until Curry can return to the lineup.

The Dynamic-ish Duo

Ian Levy | @HickoryHigh | FanSided

Although the Portland Trail Blazers have moved on to the second round of the playoffs, they are far from playing at peak performance. Their offense this season was driven by Damian Lillard and the emergence of C.J. McCollum — attacking with dribble penetration and exploiting any sliver of open space for jumpers. During the regular season, they combined for 45.9 points per game. Between field goal attempts, turnovers, and trips to the free throw line, they used about 47.3 possessions per game to rack up those points.

In their Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Lillard and McCollum combined for 42 points on 49 possessions. That’s a just slightly below average on the scoring on a slightly higher number of possessions, but it’s part of a significant trend.

So far in the playoffs, they are averaging a combined 41.7 points per game, on a combined 45.7 possessions used. The combined ratio of points per possession is lower — 0.970 in the regular season, 0.912 in the playoffs. But the decrease in usage is just as big a problem. McCollum and Lillard are the only real offensive engines that Portland has. It’s not surprising that they would see a drop in efficiency in the playoffs — that’s pretty much standard for everyone. But that drop should be accompanied by an increase in usage, the offense should be tilted towards their talents even more heavily in the playoffs.

Portland’s chances of getting past Golden State seem slim at this point. If they’re going to make something of them, they’ll need Lillard and McCollum to be more efficient and much more assertive.

The Shape of a Teardrop

Daniel Rowell | @DanielJRowell | Hardwood Paroxysm

During the National Anthem before Game 7 of the Hornets-Heat series, Dwyane Wade, with a hand over his heart and his teammates on his mind, shed a single tear (or maybe just a bead of sweat), before touching his mind, his mouth, and his heart, and gesturing to the heavens. The moment was shared on the ESPN broadcast during foul shots in the second quarter, the play-by-play crew asking if he had teared up thinking about the basketball he had played in Miami for the past thirteen years.

After the game, a dominant 106-73 Miami team victory in which Wade was outscored by three of his teammates, five Heat players with double-digit points, he laughed at the questions of his tear in disbelief, “I got to see it. Everyone says I was crying, I was just focused. Maybe I was sweating.” And when asked about what was going through his mind, he spoke of the Game 7 experience:

“I’m not a prophet or anything, but I knew we were winning this game. I think for me as a leader, I was really proud of my guys. Thinking about going into Game 6 and winning that game. For these guys to get an opportunity to play in a Game 7, to experience it. For me, I take a lot of pride in that. Just thinking about them and how they’re going to feel afterwards when they get a chance to experience this. It’s an amazing feeling when you get to fight versus a team who’s just as equal as you are and you’re able to pull it out in a Game 7. That shows a lot about you.”

Dwyane Wade had been in six Game 7s in his career, now with his third or fourth set of teammates. His first was in 2004 against the then-New Orleans Hornets. Wade was a rookie, teamed with Eddie Jones, Caron Butler, and Lamar Odom, they beat the Hornets in seven before losing the next round to the Indiana Pacers. His second was in 2009 against the Atlanta Hawks, Wade was then a fifth-year guard in his prime, an NBA Champion, and Finals MVP, but Miami was retooling after the trade of Shaquille O’Neal in the previous season and lost to the Hawks in the opening round. In a little over a year, he’d be joined by LeBron James and Chris Bosh, where he’d battle through three more Game 7’s en route to two more NBA Championships.

Now, thirteen years later, with Shaq at the NBA-on-TNT desk, James back in Cleveland, and Bosh sidelined as he deals with blood clots, Wade is a veteran in the sunset of his career and the leader of a group fighting to make it to the second round. And again, back in a Game 7. It’s a new role for Wade, but a scenario he knows so well that he knew exactly what was about to happen.

And he seems ready to own it, even if he can’t recall the tear (or a bead of sweat). In the fourth quarter of Game 6, just over a minute remaining and Miami’s lead cut to just two at “the Hive,” Wade stared down rather a vocal and purple Hornets fan, before taking over the game. He hit a step-back three off a screen as Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lin shuffled to recover to their man (his second three in the final 2 minutes). On the next possession, he hit a fadeaway jumper at the top of the key over Lin, and out of the Hornet’s timeout, he blocked Walker’s layup attempt to seal the win. Wade took just three three-point attempts during the entire seven-game series with the Hornets, a miss in Game 1 with a 17-point lead, and two makes in the final minutes of Game 6 that carried a team from the brink of elimination to Game 7. Like an Ultra Light Beam, he showed his teammates how to win and soon watched them follow. In Game 7, he knew the victory podium was coming before they even finished the National Anthem.

The NBA career takes many forms, but few take the shape that Dwyane Wade had as he entered Game 7 on Sunday. Thirteen years on a single team, for a single city, four or more iterations of teammates, three NBA championships, and a single teardrop — for the players he’d battled alongside in five Game 7’s previously, and the teammates that he knew would soon share the feeling he knew all too well.

How long is the flight of the Dragon?

Cody Williams | @TheSizzle20 | Lake Show Life, FanSided

When Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford was asked about what his team needed to do better against the Miami Heat throughout the entirety of their first round series, he repeatedly pointed to the fact that they needed to be more physical with the Heat on the interior, particularly in regards to rebounding. At least in Game 7, it also would’ve helped if Goran Dragic didn’t go full supernova to carry Miami to the second round.

Dragic was a force no matter what matchup he was up against and no matter what offensive set he was operating out of. He was slashing through the defense and getting to the rim in the pick-and-roll, dicing up defenders in isolation, and finding space on the perimeter if he was playing off the ball. He was truly phenomenal.

Having seen Dragic at his best over his career, this isn’t an unfamiliar sight for basketball fans. From his time in Phoenix to his current residency in Miami, the Dragon has always been a versatile and dangerous weapon capable of breathing fire and smirking above the smoldering ashes of his opponents. That’s what happened in South Beach on Sunday in Game 7, but the real question is if the flames will burn quite as hot as the Heat have to head north of the border.

Miami and Dragic now face a second-round series with the Toronto Raptors, who also had to withstand a seven-game series to get to this point. What’s interesting, though, is that the Raptors present a far different matchup than the Hornets, specifically on the interior. Where the Hornets failed to bring anyone into their frontcourt matchup to handle Hassan Whiteside, the likes of Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo offer a much more formidable challenge for the enigmatic Heat start.

Just in regards to matching the production of the Toronto backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Dragic stepping up was going to be necessary — but this necessitates a high level of performance even more so with the rebounding advantage at least somewhat negated for the Heat. Given that, the need for Dragic to again be at his best in the series against the Raptors is paramount.

After struggling for most of the series against Charlotte, the Dragon finally spread his wings, exhaled his fiery breath upon the Hornets, and never thought twice about the terror he wrought on his opposition. Now a different foe awaits and the question is whether or not the Dragon’s flight will continue or if traveling north with ultimately ground him.

The Toronto Raptors didn’t exorcise their playoff demons

Ben Gibson | @CowboyOnPatrol | Hoops Habit, 8 Points, 9 Seconds

When used right, a false finish can add an extra level of dread to any horror movie when you think it is safe to go back into the water, so to speak.

For the Toronto Raptors, they may not want to assume they’re safe just yet when it comes to their playoff demons. They’ve driven a few out by winning their first seven-game series, much less a Game 7, but there are still monsters in the shadows.

Toronto got by Indiana, but they were a pair of turnovers and a missed call away from another collapse in the postseason. They started the fourth quarter with a 78-64 lead and the Pacers looked D.O.A. as the final quarter began. Toronto only barely survived a 15-2 run by Indiana, but how did that even happen?

They froze. The Raptors started playing not to lose as they felt the pressure of the moment. The free wheeling offense that outscored the Pacers 28-20 was gone. All of Toronto felt it. It was happening again. Obviously, the Raptors went on to win, but they almost did it in spite of themselves.

In the game, roughly 35 percent of their shots game with 7 seconds or less left of on the shot clock. But in the fourth quarter, 52.3 percent — 11 of their 21 attempts —  came that late in the shot clock. That’s an average of 9.6 seconds left on the shot clock. The main reason it was that high was thanks to a few offensive rebounds that the Raptors tried to tip-in. If you remove the four tip-in attempts, the average drops to 5.5 seconds left on the shot clock when the Raptors shot the ball.

That is a sign of a team that wasn’t closing out, that was a team that was trying to ride it out. The Raptors were waiting around, killing time, and not getting much done offensively as they shot 4 of 21 in the quarter and were outscored 20-11.

It nearly cost them the game.

Toronto had a 99.5 percent win probability with 7:31 left according to Inpredictable, Though it never dropped below 87.1% — when Indiana cut it to three with 2:31 left — if felt like the Raptors were in the midst of another first-round playoff exit. If Paul George and Monta Ellis don’t commit critical turnovers, if Ian Mahinmi gets free throws for the shove from DeMar DeRozan, it could have ended very differently.

And that’s why they still have a monster under their bed. They players, coaches, executives and fans all know deep down, that it was that close, that they almost blew it. When the Raptors needed to find an extra gear in a clutch situation, it wasn’t there. Despite the Pacers trailing most of the game, it felt like they lost it in the fourth quarter as the Raptors tried to hold on instead of going for the kill. They created their own luck by taking a 16 point lead, but in a way they were lucky to survive the Pacers rally.

Getting out of the first round is a big step for building up the psyche of everyone involved and could set the table for the Raptors to relax in their next clutch situation.But if things get tough again this season or next for Toronto, there may be lingering doubt in their heads if they really have exorcised these playoff demons.